The action started with a player in middle position open-raising to 2,800. JC Tran re-raised to 7,700 on the button, only to see a four-bet to 20,000 and change from the player in the small blind. The big blind got out of the way and the original raiser went all in for about 100,000. Undeterred, JC announced he was all-in for his last 76,000. The four-bettor slid his cards into the muck.
"Aces?" Tran's opponent asked.
Tran:
Opponent:
...Yep. The board ran out , propelling Tran into one of the chip leads with just over 150,000.
From early position, Bryn Kenney raised to 2,900. Action folded over to the player in the hijack seat and he reraised to 7,600. When play got back to Kenney, it was time to go even higher. He four-bet to 16,500. His opponent tanked for a bit and then moved in, having Kenney and his last 47,500 covered. Kenney took little time before mucking his hand and giving up the pot.
On a flop of we found Dutch player Robbie Verspui all in against David Williams.
Williams:
Verspui:
With Verspui needing to fade both hearts and straight outs, the on the turn would change little, but it would be the on the river that would send him to the rail as Williams moves to roughly 120,000 in chips.
We caught up with the action just as Erick Lindgren, who was on the small blind, bet 11,000 on the turn with the board reading . JC Tran made the call from the big blind.
The river revealed the , prompting a 17,000 bet from Lindgren. Tran counted out a call and shipped it into the middle. Lindgren showed the for a rivered wheel. Tran mucked his cards.
"So that's how you make a final table?" another player asked.
Michael Noda, Mickey Petersen and Ben Zamani saw the flop of together. Noda was up first and checked. Petersen bet 3,600 and Zamani raised to 7,200. Noda then check-raised all in for about 80,000, having both players covered. Petersen called and Zamani folded.
Noda showed the for top pair and a flush draw. Petersen held the for middle set. The turn brought the and the river the , which kept Petersen's hand in front and doubled him up. He was all in for 29,000 on the flop and doubled to approximately 75,000. Noda was knocked back to 50,000.
Action folded to the winner of the 2008 Aruba Poker Classic Matt Brady in the small blind and he completed the bet. Darren Elias checked his option in the big blind and the two took a flop of . Brady bet 1,300 and Elias called.
Fourth street was the and Brady checked. After Elias reached for chips and bet 3,500, Brady made the call and the dealer placed the out on the river. Brady checked and Elias bet 9,600. Brady called, but couldn't beat the that Elias held for a full house.
Brady dropped to 56,000 in chips while Elias improved to 54,000.